Sparks Of Hatred

6. Blood Gets Things Done

All the lights in each building were immediately turned on. Now, Starlight High School was filled with bright light. Everyone flocked to follow Zana's steps.

Even though she didn't want to cry, Zana still felt her tears falling. She hurriedly wiped them away. She was not ready to see Hilda again, who had died a horrible death. Something as horrible as this had never occurred to Zana before. In fact, she saw with her own eyes, right before her eyes, that someone had died. And what worried her even more was that the person was her close friend. It was so tragic.

And so they arrived at their destination. Now everyone believed Zana's words. The place became very noisy. Everyone crowded around to see if it was true that Hilda had died by hanging. Everyone who saw the incident was horrified.

It was a chaotic place. Conversations soared into the air.

"Everyone back to the hall! Right now!" Mr. Abi ordered all the students of Starlight High School in a loud and firm tone of voice.

No one dared to argue, everyone obeyed immediately. Zana didn't move to follow the others, she was still standing in place with a raging mind and tears that wouldn't stop flowing.

The teachers were immediately panicked and confused. They had just called the police. It was getting late. Midnight was approaching. Meanwhile, the principal also contacted Hilda's parents to come to school immediately at this time.

This was the bloodiest night Zana had ever experienced.

No one sent Zana away, even though she was the only student who joined the teachers. She hugged her shivering body, the air was so cold.

Zana dared not look at Hilda's corpse. Everyone who was still there looked panicked and horrified. It was unimaginable how something like this could happen. Especially at a fun event.

"Hilda has been murdered, someone has done this to her. My best friend has died tragically." Zana squeaked, even so, her voice could still be heard easily by the teachers.

The new headmaster, a pot-bellied and mustachioed man, came over to Zana and tried to calm her down. He grabbed her and led her to sit on a chair.

Zana did not resist, she let it happen. The principal and she sat side by side. Zana covered her face for a moment as the principal tried to talk to her.

"I know this is all hard for you, girl. You saw something scary, especially since she is your friend."

Zana swallowed hard. It was impossible to play nice when what was really happening was that she was completely broken.

"I don't know what to say. This is too shocking and sudden. Hilda doesn't deserve that, she..." Zana couldn't continue her sentence. She burst into tears again. "I feel guilty, I should have been with her, instead, I was enjoying the party. If I were with her, of course she wouldn't be like this."

"Don't blame yourself, you didn't do anything wrong. It's not wrong for you to enjoy the party, that's how it should be. I'm sorry, I'm also surprised, especially since I'm the new principal here. I didn't expect something like this to happen either."

Zana looked down. Still, she felt guilty. If she had realized earlier that Hilda had disappeared from beside her, she would have been with her by now and would not have lost her. Zana was too busy enjoying the party. Whereas earlier, Hilda confided in Zana that someone intended to kill her.

And true, now it is proven. Zana couldn't believe all this. Hilda was indeed terrorized before she finally died. There was someone who hated her to the point of being surprisingly unafraid of eliminating her for real. This was so cruel.

"Hilda was my best friend."

"I know."

"She's dead, who will I be with after this?"

"You're not alone, girl. You still have a lot of friends, you'll be fine."

Zana shook her head weakly. "No, I won't be okay after Hilda leaves. It really hurts so much."

"Life is full of unexpected surprises like this."

"Yeah, I know that."

"I hope you're gracious enough to accept all this."

Zana smiled slightly, even though it seemed forced. For the first time, she looked up and stared at the headmaster. Zana said, "Thank you, you really helped me, sir. I'm glad you're here and serving as the new principal."

There was a pause of a few seconds before the principal asked Zana something. "If I may know, how did you find your friend in that state in the first place?"

It made Zana uncomfortable to remember and talk about the experience. She didn't want to think about something bad like this, but she had to share her story with the principal. And so Zana began to speak again, telling what she had experienced.

"Hilda disappeared from beside me in the hall, more precisely when I was busy joining the others enjoying the music to dance. I only realized a few moments after that that Hilda was missing."

"Then you went looking for her."

Zana nodded. Yeah, that's right. That's what happened. "I looked everywhere for her—the rooftop, the restrooms, the parking lot—nothing. Then, I intended to report Hilda's disappearance to you and the teachers, but before my intention was realized..." Zana hung up her speech.

"You found her, right here."

"No, that's not it. I didn't see her at first, I saw blood—lots of it. I thought it was spilled paint, but apparently not."

"It was her blood."

Zana swallowed, and she nodded, confirming that. "Right, I smelled it, it's human blood. It's a lot, you must have seen it at the front of the room."

"Yeah, I've seen it."

"After that, I saw the door of this classroom open, I went in, then..." Zana pulled her hand to cover her face again. Her tears came out again.

Zana felt a gentle pat that landed on her shoulder, followed by a voice that made her calm down.

"I know, I understand. You don't need to continue your story anymore. It's enough, I'm glad you could tell me about it. You're trying, girl. You'll be fine, I promise."

Zana didn't say anything back. She just listened. Until this moment, Zana really felt guilty. Hilda's death was not her fault, but the guilt was still there, even rooted in her feelings.

What happened next was that the police arrived to do their job, Hilda's body was taken down, and a yellow police line was drawn.

Zana was required to answer some questions as she was the first person to see Hilda's tragic death. She answered all the questions that rolled off the police's lips with a tight chest.

And after finishing, Zana was told to go to the hall, and join the other students of Starlight High School. That was the last time Zana saw Hilda before the girl's corpse was covered by a white cloth.

Everyone looked at her as she entered the hall. After entering, she closed the door. Everyone must have agreed that Hilda's appearance at this time was a mess and very pathetic. Her eyes looked swollen. Many sympathized with her.

Losing your best friend is very painful, especially when you are gone forever and you will never see each other again. It will be a memory.

Zana chose to sit in an empty spot in the corner of the room. She was silent, her mind frantic. She didn't know what to do now. Everything still seemed like a dream to her because it happened too suddenly and too fast.

Now, the hall was not as noisy as if it were a party. The lights had all been turned on, and the music had been stopped completely. There were only whispers and chatter. Some were talking about Hilda's tragic death. Others didn't care, and some were openly joking and laughing.

Moments later, everyone was startled when the door was opened so quickly that it made a loud noise. Two people stormed in—a man and a woman.

"I hold you accountable, who could have killed my daughter?! I'm sure the culprit is one of you. Those who feel guilty should stand up and face me. I don't accept any of this. You must take responsibility!" The woman spoke loudly while pointing at everyone. Her eyes were red, and it was obvious that she had just finished crying.

"Honey, they don't know anything. You can't accuse them like that." The man said while holding her hand, but she immediately brushed his hand away rudely and didn't care.

The woman looked at all the students at Starlight High School with a vengeful glint in her eyes. "I'm sure my daughter's killer is here, come out and face me right now! Don't be a coward."

No one answered the question. They continued to be both confused and afraid.

A single teardrop fell on Zana's cheek. She knew how these men and women felt. She knew them. They were Hilda's parents.

Zana knew that what she was feeling right now was not as heavy as what Hilda's parents were feeling in their hearts. They were far more miserable and suffering than Zana.

Meanwhile, in the corner of the room, Alice smiled wryly. She was happy that Hilda was dead, even though there were many confused things she was thinking about.

Hilda's mom continued to roar and cry very loudly. The husband tried to calm his wife, who was really shaken. Hilda's mom was so exhausted that she collapsed and was taken to the school health room.

The principal entered the hall after that. He stood at the podium, all watching him seriously.

"Everyone, listen to this carefully." He began to speak. "This incident is very shocking to everyone and unavoidable, we certainly mourn the loss of your friend's life. That's right, Hilda is dead. And I want you to pray for her. With that, I have to tell you with a heavy heart that this party is over and you may return to your homes. I advise you to be careful on the road. Thank you."